Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-06
OLIVE CULTURE.
Interesting Essay by Rev
c. F. Loop, Pomona.
WHAT AN EYEWITNESS SAW
In Italy and France-Statistics of
the Industry in These
Countries.

From the earliest days the olive has
been invested with a peculiar interest.
Originating in the distant East, where
tradition locates that earthly paradise.
the Garden of Eden, it has remained
there to sustain, satisfy and gladden. sue.
cessive generations, and also been carried
by man as something essential to his
comfort and pleasure, through all his
wanderings and journeys westward. even
to our own fair land upon the shores of
the western sea.
The olive and its product. oil, figure
most prominently in the sacred writings.
The tree is frequently referred 60 as
AN EMBLEM OF BEAUTY,
Whether clothed in its profusion of white
flowers in springtime, or in its evergreen
foliage ip winter. Again it is presented
as an emblem Of profusion and gladness
when its branches are bending with fruit
ready for the harvest. By Divine direc.
tion olive. wood was used in constructing
certain parts of the temple at Jerusalem,
while its oil was made constituent part
of the offerings of the Mosaic ritual. and
was also used in consecrating Hebrew
kings and priests to their high offices.
In the literature of the Eastern empire,
especially Mythology, we also find the
olive frequently mentioned. Sacred to
Minerva, it was to the polished Greek of
that early day an emblem of peace and
chastity. In reading Plutarch's lives of
the great men whose names have been
preserved, we find that when the people
wished to bestow the highest honor upon
their favorite, the investiture was made
by publicly placing upon the brow OF the
candidate q crown wrought of the sprays
of the olive. And in the celebrated
Olympic games, amidst the reclamation
of the multitudes of spectators, this was
bestowed as the highest prize with which
to crown the victor with glory and rev.
erepce. And in time of war, when the
yanauished wished to approach his
powerful opponent, he carried an olive
branch as token symbol of peaceful
disposition. When we make
AcRIrIcAL STUDY OF THE OLIVE
We find it distinguished for its great
longevity and its wonderful usefulness
to men. In respect to longevity it
ranks with the orange, although the
famous tree in the garden of the Vatican
in Rome is said, upon good authority,
to be O thousand years old. A high
degree of reverence is awakened when
we see the photographs OF those noted
olive trees of Syria and Palestine, still
standing as monuments of the dead past,
spreading their green branches to the
summer sun, and inviting the weary
traveller now, as they did Titus and his
Roman legions, to rest in their grateful
shade.
It is reasonable to suppose that a
tree. living on in healthy condition
from age to age, should, under favorable
conditions, attain u great size, hence we
are not surprised to read the statement
of travellers giving the measurement OF
some of these grand old giants OF the
East. Some are mentioned having o
diameter Of fifteen feet at the ground
This
GREAT TBEAClTY OF LIFE
Permits q treatment which would XII
an ordinary fruit tree. If its leaves and
branches tave become infested with
smut or insects, the entire head can be
cut away, leaving only the main stem,
which will send out new branches, form.
ing q new head with renewed fruitful
ness. Olive.wood is used extensively in
Europe for cabinet work. At the Cape
of Good Hope, on account of its hard.
ness and strength, it is called iron.wood.
In China the flowers of the fragrant
olive are used for iavoring tea.
PHE OLIVE BELT OF THE woaLD
Il quite extensive. Beginning with its
home in Asia it extends westward, in.
cluding parts of the northern coast OF
Africa, Southern Europe, a part OF the
coast of Australia and the southern
coast of California.
Its true home is semi tropical climate,
and 90 where you will along this belt
you lind it within hailing distance of
the sea. From three to ten miles cover.
ing the foothills, and sometimes along
1.-THE Mediterranean Sea it is planted
2near the water edge. There are excep.
tions to this rule; at Damascus it is in
Aoarishing condition fifty miles from the
sea, The extreme heat of the interior
valleys is unfavorable, also a tropical
climate with its accompanying heat and
dampness. 1t is also quite as sensitive
to cold. It will not bear well where
severe frosts occur at minwinter, as the
leaves and branches are killed when the
mercury reaches fourteen degrees above
zero.
In southern Europe, where the condi.
tions are favorable, olive culture is a
marked feature of industry among their
dense population.
In Italy, Spain and the south part of
France eight million acres are devoted
to this industry. producing one hundred
and sixty million gallons of OIL besides
large amount of olives in barrels for ex-
port. This business in southern France
is considered very lucrative. The we'll
to.do farmer makes oil or prepares the
fruit for domestic or foreign market,
while in many parts of Spain and Italy
the poor are largely dependent upon
their olive trees for their support. When
compelled to sell their homestsads,
whenever it is possible, they reserve
their olive trees.
A part of this belt ON the Mediterra-
mean, between Genoa and Naples. we
can duplicate on this coast from Point
Conception to San Diego. Our sea
breeze is much stronger, carrying its
vitalizing power farther inland, pene-
trating the nearest valleys-as at San
Fernando-and thus making the area of
cultivation much more extensive. We
cannot of course, now. give a definite
estimate of the area of this belt on the
Pacific coast where olive culture will
give profitable returns, but we feel sure,
Judging from the results of the work
done at Santa Barbara, San Diego, San
Fernando, and from what we have done
here and at other points, that we have
here true olive belt, side by side with
that devoted to the orange. the raisin
and the fig.
Now, If the conditions here are favor.
able to success, and we know the amount
of imports in fruit and oil, have we not
tho unot;vaa for aytensiOn in doing some